Alloy



Patented. Sept. 3, 1935' I v UNITED STATES .P TEy' OFFICE I w v2,012,966 I I 1 I Harlan J. McFadgen, Sin, Oakland, Calif., as-.

1 Signor to Chrome Alloys Manufacturing Company, Oakland, Calif., a copartners'hip com- I posed of Franklin Warnerand Harlan :1. Mc-j Fadgen,Sr. I g No Drawing. AppIication May 31, 1932, Serial 7. o I No.s14,s11 a I ,2Claims. (01. 75-1). My invention relates to alloys, and has par: Another object-of the invention isto provide a ticular reference to alloys formed betweenmetals flux: which maybe employeddn forming an alloy having a high melting point and metals. having a between hi'gh melting point metals and low meltlow melting point. 'ing point metals. 1 I I 5 Various attempts have'been made to produce In various types' constructioml is desirable 6 alloys between metals having a high melting point to employ" a, metal which is relatively hard, and and other metals having a low melting point, which has a hi h en ile r n b t w ch. at l but the percentage of low melting point metals the same time, includes the properties at receiv- I which could be alloyed,'has been relatively small. 8 and reta ning a high P011511, p e i II 10 in some instances the low melting point metal silv ry app a a e. Such as that known in 10 suffering considerable loss inintroduetion into art as a chro'mium finish. yp construe? the COIl'lDOSitlOIl. For--example,.ialloys have been tlons oi this type are marine hardware, which is attempted between metals such as'nickel and/or to be exposed to the action f Sa t w te in which chromium, which have high melting points, and thenon-c'orrosive feature is of great importance copper and zinc having low melting points, with, in retaining the desired finish or polish upon the 15 little success in obtaining" an alloy when has a I metal. At the same time, such devices must be high percentage of the zinc orcopper,.while other able to withstand considerable strains and attempts to form such alloys have resulted in #S eSSeS. v I the precipitation of the nickel or chromium from I' have discover d that an all y pa ti ula y the molten mass preventing reasonable assur adeptedfor s s ay e e in relatively 20 once that thefinished product would have the. inexpensive mannerfrom relatively inexpensive desired percentages of high and low meltingpointi ingredients; F x mp a m tal which conmetals. p I tainsa large percentage of zinc maybe employed A I I It is, therefore, an object of this invention to with a m ll p r en e of chromium. the' com- 5 provide an alloy which includes as its, constituent bination of these two metals giving the desired elements'one or more metals having a high meltnon-corrosive p p nd also Producing a ing point and having'a relatively large percent- I t l hav ng the white" color desired. for 11 age of low melting point metal, suchas zinc p 'app a en I Another object of the invention is to provide Also. this combination ofzinc and chromium an alloy whichhas the characteristics of being may be rendered ve y a c y tough y th 30 non-corrosive and non-tarnishing inthe presintroduction of a relatively high percentage of ence of salt water, chlorine "and the most acid p e to which a be added other o g n s. fumes, and which also has the characteristic of Such as ma a iron, e and other, .being relatively strong and ,i of high tensile netaIs. However, it will be noted that the finished I strength. J l I I v alloy is formed of large percentages of relatively 35 Another: object of'the invention is to provide in xp nsi e als, t at n a d pper. an alloy containing a large percentageof zinc. which constitute app imately 80*.to of which has the characteristic of not'only having the finishedproduct, and are both relatively ins relatively high tensile strengthgput also having p s v m t awhi t qua tity of m re exe 40 a relatively high yielding point. U f pensive materials, such as nicke'l and chromium, 0' 0 Another object of the invention is to provide a .employedis relatively'small'constitutin'g not over relatively inexpensive alloy :which has the prop- ;14 t 15% r t fin d r t; 7 1 I II el'ty fi -g a t c r readily ma d For examp1e, I find th I? 'alloyformed from and m wheInPonshedv sm high luster copper, nickel, zinc, manganese, iron-andchromi- 4 fi g gi g g m 5 9 8? pomons um produces a highly desirable material for sub- 46 t 1 stantially all purposesron. which {a strong, Another objsact'of the inventmn Is to provide sturdy; to h e filis -'to beusedto bee posed a method of producing an -alloy between high V meltihgpoint metal and low melting point metals. I water or tim cqn'oslvve or m s I o Another object "of the invention is to provide m w i it. i e i d P eP h a'methodof introducing a relatively large per-f;v ished e e n 0 5 26 1} maintained cen-tage of low melting point metal, such as zinc; 2 along D Od-Pil e- I I into alloys containing high melting point nietals -S ucha material maybe te me from the without appreciableloss oi. the low melting point lowing constituents in substantiallythe follow.- I 66 metals. ingproportions: 2 I u Percent Copper 40 to 50 Zinc 40 0 50 Nick to Manganese 1 to 2 Chromium .1 to .5 g -.5 to 1 Phosphorous copper.. .1to .2

Such alloys having approximately the following The various ingredients may be combined in the following manner, the amounts indicated forming a quantity of finished alloy of about 180 lbs:

Acrucible or electric furnace may be used for the melting of the various ingredients, thecharge being substantially as follows! .On the bottom of the crucible or furnace should be placed 5 pounds of zinc, lopounds of copper, 4 pound of chromium in the form of ferro chromium containing approximately 60% chromium, approximately 1 pound of a flux to be hereinafter described, then a charge of about 25 pounds of copper and nickel, which I prefer to employ in the form of coppernickel shot containing approximately copper and 50% nickel. Then approximately an additional pound of the flux should be spread on top of the charge, again a layer of approximately 25 pounds of copper-nickel shot, and then approximately 1 pound of the flux should be spread upon" the charge.

The charge may then be heated to about 3,000"- F. which will cause the melting of the material in the crucible.

By charging the crucible in the manner set forth, the zinc and copper will be at the bottom of the charge so that as the copper nickel shot is 'melted, the nickel constituents will flow downwardlythrough the flux to meet the molten zinc and copper and mix properly therewith. The flux will melt and form a protective coating upon the top of the molten mass to prevent oxidation of the constituents and of the preliminary alloy of copper, nickel, chromium and zinc so formed.

I'prefer to employ the nickel in the form of the copper-nickel shot, primarily because the melting point of this combination of metals is considerably below that of nickel alone, thus rening more. Atthis time, approximately pound of the aluminum should be added to act as a deoxidizer and cleanser. The introduction of the copper will tend to lower the heat of the mixture,

and it should be reheated to about 2500 F. and

then the crucible allowed to cool to about .800". The zinc'to be added should be warmed and charged, while the molten mass is at about 1800" in small charges of about 10 pounds each, im-

the charge is ready to draw. Immediately prior to the drawing of the charge, the flux should be skimmed off and about 2 pounds of tin added and stirred well into the molten mass. At this time also about 4 pound of aluminum and pound 10% phosphorous copper should be added and stirred well into the mixture, after which the molten mass should again be skimmed clean, the temperature of the mass at this time; being tested to insure that as the skimmer is drawn across the top of the crucible it leaves a trailing wave of 'about A ,inch behind it, this condition obtaining when the mixture is at the most desirable temperature for casting.

' The above noted ingredients and quantities will produce approximately 180pounds of the'flnished product, which may be then cast in any suitable' shape in the same manner as brass or similar alloys.

It will be noted that only a small quantity of copper and zinc is used in the initial charge and that after'the nickel and chromium are melted the remainder of'the copper and the zinc is added in such small quantities that there is no opportunity for the mass to be chilled by the introduc tion of the copper and zinc, nor is there an opportunity for the nickel and chromium to precipitate or amalgamate and set in the crucible.

It will alsobe observed that the introduction of the copper and zinc is made after the initial charge has been melted and it is coveredwith the flux. Ordinarily, the introduction of zinc into a mass at the temperature indicated herein would cause the "zinc to immediately vaporize and be blown out of themix, thereby losingsubstantially all of the zinc as it'is introduced into the crucible.

I prevent this occurrence by employing a flux which is relatively heavy and which,if the zinc is introduced below the flux, by immediately immersing the zinc into the molten mass below the flux, the zinc will be melted and alloyed with the remaining. constituents without having an opportunityito oxidize or vaporize.

The flux which I prefer to use includes a relatively large percentage of ground glass and borax to which is added a considerable quantity of ground shell. The particular shell employed is preferably one having a low lime content and it is preferably one which is of bone character, rather than 'of a calcium carbonate character, and, also, one which'contains iodine. A particular shell which is best adapted for this use is abalone shell which appears to contain a desirablequantity ,of iodine as having as its major=characteristics, the properties of ground bone as distinguished from the calciumcarbonate characteristics of most of the sea shells. The abalone shell has also the property of constituting a dedation. Moreover, this introduction of the cop-' oxidizer for the materials from which the alloy is formed. Also, this shell has a relatively high vaporization point, assisting the ground glass and borax in forming a coating which floats upon the top of the molten mas and prevents oxidation of the materials Within the mass. I also prefer to employ in the flux a small quantity of sodium cyanide; also a small quantity of powdered charcoal, and I may also employ a small quantity of boric acid or potassium chloride.

I prefer to compound the flux in a dry condition and preferably mix the powdered ferro chromium with the flux, thus introducing the chromium into the initial charge at the same time as the flux.

A flux which I find is particularly adapted in the production of a desirable alloy in the quantities hereinbefore set forth includes approxi mately 4 oz. of boric acid, 3 oz. sodium cyanide, 1 lb. of ground glass, lb. of ground abalone shell, 4 lb. of powdered charcoal, and 1 lb. of borax, this quantity of each of the ingredients forming a sufiicient flux to work successfully with the hereinbefore stated amounts of metal employed in forming the alloy.

It will, therefore, be observed that I have provided an alloy which contains a high percentage of zinc, alloyed with nickel and chromium, which have a much higher melting point than the zinc. This high percentage of zinc is possible only by following the procedure of introducing the zinc directly into and below the surface of the molten nickel-copper mixture, in small quantities, and at a time at which a relatively high melting point flux is employed covering the top of the mixture, since otherwise a considerable loss of zinc would occur due to its vaporization and oxiper and zinc into the mixture in small quantities enables the large quantity of zinc and copperto be put into the alloy without chilling the molten nickel and causing it to amalgamate, ruining the entire mixture. While I find it simple to introduce the zinc and copper in solid form and permit them to melt in the crucible, either or both of these ingredients may be previously melted and introduced below the surface of the mix and flux in any manner known to those skilled in the art, provided that the rate of introduction is kept low enough to avoid pre cipitation of the nickel and/or chromium.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to any of the details of construction shown herein,

except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming an alloy consisting substantially of copper, nickel, and at least 30% by weight of zinc which consists in forming a preliminary alloy of the nickel and the copper and then introducing the zinc into the molten mass in small charges by immersing each charge below the surface of the mass and holding the same immersed until melted.

2. The method of forming an alloy containing copper, nickel, and at least 30% by weight of zinc, which consis s in melting the nickel and copper with a flux containing abalone shell, and then introducing the zinc into the molten mass in small charges by immersing each charge below the surface of the mass and holding the same immersed until melted.

HARLAN J. McFADGEN, SR. 

